Suction gleaning device



'r'. -c. HELMICH. sucnou cLspumc' DEVICE. APPLICATION- FILED NAYH. IQIB.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Frmk GHQ/m c! rm]: 0. HELMIQH, or rmnapn zrrrm, PENNSYLVANIA;

SUCTION GLEANING DEVICE.

s peci fication ot Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application filed May 11, 1918. Serial No. 234,005.

To all wh m it my am a B it kno n t at .I, Fawn C. Harmon, a c tizen of the Unit d S tes, iresldlhg 5 2233 B ncr ft stree ilad ln ia, m he nty of P iladelph a a d Sta e of Pe n y van h ve i en d new an usefnl Impr em n s in'S etiQn C eaning D i s of whi h the f wing 15 a p ification.

object 91 th invent n is to p o i a section c eani g devi e f the las also kn wn as er remov ng of o or other foreign ma ter rom su ia es, 9i musical inst aineats, mar time r the like Th lawman more Partmfi dv remains to a dame ads for n th b eaker ba s 9 renewal nstrument sa h as Plane to th s sa the 1I1Y tg DH compreheads a simple impl ment, mnsishng of few Pa ts that he 9 mg? c nstructe n r niy a emb ed, when y th ac umulated e er tha an t tr d he a be easily eat d thegef em an th -.1mP emen hen a a y t me exha sted item the mplement. To this end the implement 1s s gn d a math threes} wh ch th d s su ked nt the implement aad than by slight adinstm at Qtthe imnlement the a ra b read d eha 'ged mm he i enor of the 1m lema t threagh the mo h, B te? the mp. ment h s be n d awn a fr th tra k. has or Part t am wh ch he dus has been re ma I am aware tha meets snag .qt b llows and suctionh and fd'ischii ulgl elvices hay? been s e etaem er se ring 0 a ke l zard: of Pla e and th lik but n the e t emes he disehar e e e a v sla d produ e; 1s a sqhargcd through a's para e d sene QPQIHQEE; w ere s, a m ev ce s es iv h entir ar an men by ih chai'sme t aeeeiae lcd We t? re he snap rawns hrees l'ltfih it sue "ed"i'nto t e'implement.

"In the arther d=l lfll of the in e t -sees i ta s ha a the a s sments ramas, washbas ns a pa t at his p c; aaqa .1 which smi e fillfimfiie fi 91 f the sa a "ca e. ams pa t a all ts n sman n r ig. 1 a annual seamn! n taken tll a j he". cups- 's e ann a se iaeel taken aa'tlfi has a $5: .1"

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the implement with parts broken away to disoLOSe the underlying valve structure, the dotted lines indicating one of the valve adjnstments.

Referring more particularly to the views, the cleaning device is indicated in its entirety by the numeral 10. and comprehends a bellows frame 11 which is formed by an upper leaf or board 12 and a lower leaf or board 13, connected by a suitable cloth 14: forming the sides and end, the cloth being plaited in an accordion effect. The rear terminals or extremities of the leaves 12 and 13 are reduced to form suitable handles 15, and the front ends of the leaves 12 and 13 are suitably hinged to a block 16 provided With an Opening 17 and which forms a part of the bellows for a purpose that will be hereinafter more fully disclosed. The leaves 112 and 13 on their inner faces and adjacent their forward ends are recessed as at 18, to form better connection with the opening 17 of the block 16, and hinged on the block 16 a flap valve 19 engaged by a suitable spring 20, said valve normally closing the inner end of the opening 17, and therefore better termed a closure valve. Attached to the block 16 is a mouth-piece 21 provided with an opening 22, communicating with the opening 17, a bumper pad 23 being secured to the'concaved front of the mouth-piece 21, and also provided with an opening 24: registering with the opening 22, said bumper being made of a suitable felt or some soft skin, so that in using the implement, the part to which it is applied for the purpose of removing the dust therefrom, will not be injured or scratched.

An exhaust valve 25 of what ,is generally known as the button-type, is arranged to norqrnally close an opening 26 in one of the leaves, namely, the leaf 13, and said valve includes a pad 27 insuring proper closing the opening 2-6, and a stem 28 having con- ,nection with the outer end of a spring 29 wg ichis suitably secured to the inner face 0 the leaf 13. A fender 30 in the nature of a; block is secured to the inner face of the leaf 13 to project upwardly a slight dis tance beyond the normal ulpward position of the spring 29 so that w en the leaf 12 is pressed down it will engage the fender 30 and thereby prevent injury to the spring 29.

It will be particularly noted by reference to Fig. 1 that the cloth 14 has it back portion, 1ndicated by the numeral 14, arranged with the edges thereof recessed into grooves 14" in the leaves 12 and 13, so as to provide an absolutely air-tight connection at thls point.

Referrin once more to the pre$ure valve 19, it will e seen that there is provided an operating element 31 which is mountectto turn and to slide in the block 16 and whlch is bent at its exterior end to form a handle 32, and on the interior end it extends into the openin 17. The operating element is formed witi a projection 33 that will bear against the valve 19 and move the same against the action of the spring 20, when the operating element is rotated in the block.

N ow assuming that the operating element is in normal or inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 2, and that it is desired to use the device for the purpose of sucking into the bellows any quantity of dust that has collected on the tracker bar of a piano, the mouth-piece is arranged adjacent to the point of accumulation of the dust and the bellows then operated b moving the leaves 12 and 13 toward an away from each other. When the leaves are moved toward each other to compress the bellows, it will be clear that any air contained therein, when it reaches a degree of compression greater than the holding action of the spring 29, will by pressure of the air cause the exhaust valve 25 to become unseated from the open ing 26 and the air will rush out through this opening, and the bellows can there ore be easil compressed, it being of course understo that no air will pass out through the mouth-piece because of the valve 19 being held in closed position by the spring 20 and by the pressure of air against the valve. Now when the bellows are opened by movin the leaves 12 and 13 apart, a suction wil be created within the bellows, by reason of the fact that the valve 25 will again have assumed its normal closing position by the action of the spring 29, so as to effectually close the opening 26, and in order to fill the bellows with air, the air will have to pass through the mouthpiece 21, and thus will be sucked in by the suction created through the opening 22 and the opening 17, the suction created by opening the bellows being suflicient to overcome the action of the spring 20, thus raising the valve 19 to uncover one end of the opening 17, and thereby permit the air and accumulated dust to be sucked into the interior of the bellows. Now in order to exhaust the air from the bellows, and have the dust carried out with the air, after the implement has been re moved from the tracker bar, the operating element 31 is rotated from the exterior by means of the handle 32 thereof, thus causing the projection 83 to bear against the pressure valve 19 and force the same against the action of the spring 20 into an open position, so that the subsequent closing of the bellows or compression thereof, will permit the accumulated dust and air in the bellows to freely move out through the unrestricted openings 17 and 22, so that the accumulated dust and air will pass out through the mouth-piece 21; it bemg particularly noted that in this operation the valve 25 will not operate, due to the fact that the air and dust will follow the path of least resistance and pass out through the opening 17, rather than through the opening 26, which is held closed by the valve 25 and the action of the spring 29.

By repeating this operation, a quantity of dust can easily be sucked into the bellows from tracker bars, and then subsequently removed from. the same opening or mouthpiece and by reference to Figs. 2 and 4 it will be seen that by sliding the operating element 31 toward the valve 19, or away from the same, the degree of opening of the valve 19, when the operating element is operated to move the projection into engagement with the valve, can be adjusted 'so that the uncoverin of the opening or passage 17 can be ma e greater or less as desired, this being particularly desirable where it is desired to regulate the suction or projection of the air into or out of the bellows.

In order to prevent large particles from passing into the bellows and thus destroying the operativeness thereof, a screen 34 is disposed between the block 16 and the mouth-piece 21 to traverse the openings 17 and 22, and thereby permit only the finer particles of dust and dirt, and not large shavings and the like from entering the bellows when the same are expanded to induce the suction.

From the foregoin description it will be seen that the device described comprehends a handy and useful article, that can be operated by any one not necessarily skilled, and that the parts being of a simple construction cannotreadily get out of order, the device being designed to efiectively accomplish the purpose for which it is intended.

1. A device of the characterv described, comprising in combination with a bellows, a block provided with a passage and having the bellows connected and hinged thereto, a mouth-piece provided with a passage and 1 attached to the block, the passage of the mouth-piece registering with the passage of the block, a spring-actuated pressure valve normally closing the passage from the block, a spring-actuated exhaust valve normally Isa 

